Sedona
A feminine name derived from the name of a locality in Arizona, possibly from the Spanish word "sedona", meaning "settler's trail".
Name Census estimates that about 2,218 living Americans carry the first name Sedona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sedona today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sedona births was 2022 (129 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sedona. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Sedona is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 154,533 Americans
Peak year
2022
129 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,720
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Sedona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sedona from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 721 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sedona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sedona by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sedona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sedonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Arizona, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Sedona, while Virginia, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sedona
The given name Sedona is believed to have its origins in the Spanish language. It is derived from the word "Sedona," which was the name given to a city located in Arizona, United States. The city was named after Sedona Arabella Miller Schnebly, who was one of the early settlers in the region in the late 19th century.
The name Sedona itself is thought to be a combination of two Spanish words: "sed," meaning thirst, and "ona," meaning a large area or expanse. This could be a reference to the arid and desert-like landscape of the region where the city of Sedona is located.
While the name Sedona is relatively modern in its usage as a given name, it has been recorded as being used as early as the late 19th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sedona being used as a first name was for Sedona Arabella Miller Schnebly herself, who was born in 1877 and lived until 1950.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who have borne the name Sedona. One such person was Sedona Heidinger (1924-2018), an American artist and painter known for her abstract expressionist works. Another was Sedona LeSourd (born 1928), an American actress who appeared in films and television shows in the mid-20th century.
In the realm of literature, Sedona Cahill is a fictional character featured in the novel "Sedona Legacy" by Rachel Spangler, published in 2016. Additionally, Sedona Ragovoy (born 1974) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has released several albums and performed with various bands.
While not as widely used as some other names, Sedona has gained popularity in recent times, particularly in the United States, due to its unique sound and connection to the scenic city in Arizona.
People
Sedona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sedona as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sedona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sedona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sedona going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 154,533 US residents.
Is Sedona a common name?
We classify Sedona as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sedona most popular?
The single biggest year for Sedona was 2022, when 129 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sedona is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sedona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sedona in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.